Live: Music Picks Mar. 17-23

Young Dubliners, The Portland Cello Project, Adult Books and more

THURSDAY 3.17
Bar J Wranglers (March 17-19, 24-26)
After appearing at the Heber Valley Music & Cowboy Poetry Gathering in October, Wyoming's Bar J Wranglers return to serve up "some of the purest harmony, best musicianship and funniest ranch humor ever seen on stage"—not to mention dinner! You'll be pickin' and grinning and pickin' your teeth while the five-piece performs classic country western tunes like "Rawhide" and "Ghost Riders in the Sky," as well as patriotic and religious songs—with some yodels tossed in. No word on what kind of grub they're servin', but my money's on red meat. (Randy Harward) Dejoria Center, 970 N. State Road 32 (Kamas), 5:30 p.m., $65 ($45 for kids aged 2-12), DeJoriaCenter.com

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THURSDAY 3.17
Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys
Rockabilly and swing music have plenty of fans here in Salt Lake City, which is why every time genre luminary Big Sandy and his boys tour, they hit us up. That's good for us—this'll be the Rockabilly Hall-of-Famers' second visit inside of a year, on the tour celebrating the band's well-deserved 25th anniversary, leading up to an appearance at the Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend next month. So, hop online and get yourself a nice can of pomade, grease up and hit the Garage tonight with a Bettie Page lookalike—or, failing that, a Tinder date. (Randy Harward) The Garage on Beck, 1199 Beck St., 8 p.m., $10 (plus $2.50 service fee), GarageOnBeck.com

SATURDAY 3.19
Young Dubliners
Back in the mid-'90s, Celtic rockers the Young Dubliners and Salt Lake City commenced a still-running love affair that has found them playing larger and larger venues each time they visit. It started, mainly, with our dearly departed Zephyr Club and the early triple-A radio station The Mountain 105.7. While The Mountain played the hell out of the band's Breathe album—particularly the character-driven pop-rock gem "Mary," which showed the band's considerable songwriting talent—the Zephyr gave the "Young Dubs" (as their fans know them) a platform for their electrifying live performances. Onstage, the Dubs' songwriting and energy dovetail to whip crowds into a blissful, drunken frenzy. Whether they're singing about sad Mary (since replaced by the more upbeat entreaty "Rosie"), covering The Pogues' hit "If I Should Fall from Grace with God" or shaking a club's foundation with their signature version of the traditional "Rocky Road to Dublin" (sing along: one, two-three, four-five!), you will be moved tonight. And on the way home, you'll be singing or whistling to the annoyance of a blessedly sober Uber driver. King Washington opens the show. (RH) In the Venue, 219 S. 600 West, 6 p.m., $23, InTheVenueSLC.com

De Despedida, Leyenda Oculta, La Calavera
Who would've known that Salt Lake City has a burgeoning rock en Español scene? While the Latin alternative genre, as it's become more widely known, has been picking up steam nationally and internationally, it's been fairly silent in Salt Lake City—at least as far as most of us know. Club Karamba has been booking bands like De Despedida and Leyenda Oculta for quite some time, and these bands and others have been part of a monthly rock en Español showcase at Liquid Joe's since September. Now they're getting a turn on the Kilby Court stage, with this three-band show headlined by Kaysville's De Despedida, whose late-'80s/early-'90s AOR/melodic rock will sound even bigger in a tiny venue. Leyenda Oculta of West Valley City—whose sound is similar but traipses into rockabilly and even ska territory—and Salt Lake City alt-rockers La Calavera open. (RH) Kilby Court, 741 S. 330 West, 7 p.m., $6, KilbyCourt.com

The Portland Cello Project
Thanks to artists like Rasputina, Apocalyptica and Erik Friedlander, the cello is no longer an instrument for freakishly strong, bespectacled nerds. In fact, it's been outed as an all-around musical beast capable of playing everything from longhaired chamber music to full-on, equally hirsute heavy metal. The PCP, in fact, is known to cover metal giants Pantera, atmospheric alt-rockers Radiohead, pop star Taylor Swift and late indie-rock singer-songwriter Elliott Smith—among many, many others in its repertoire of more than 1,000 compositions, which also includes originals by PCP founder Gideon Freudmann. With such a wealth of material, and a lineup that features anywhere from four to 12 cellists, their proclamation that no two shows are alike is undoubtedly true. (RH) The State Room, 638 S. State, 9 p.m., $20, TheStateRoomSLC.com

WEDNESDAY 3.23
Diabolical Daze Night 1: Adult Books, The Rich Hands, Boyfriends, The Nods, Mommy Long Legs, Brothers In Law
Along with their popular in-store concerts and musical matchmaking event Bandemonium, Diabolical Records' Diabolical Daze is an eagerly anticipated event leading into Boise's big Treefort shindig. Held over the course of three days, it brings together bands from all over the world. DD's first night features six bands, including Adult Books, out of Los Angeles by way of Orange County. The trio purveys a catchy blend of punk rock and post-punk with reverb-y surf tones. Their eponymous 2012 EP proved to be Lolipop Records' best-selling cassette release ever and, only four years later, the band is back with their debut LP, Running from the Blows (Lolipop/Burger). The album finds the band as spunky and tuneful as on the EP but a little more grown-up as a band. The sounds remains the same, perhaps with a bit of shoegaze influence coming through in the songs, which are slower and more thoughtful, with atmospheric mixes. The lineup is rounded out by Austin power-pop threesome Rich Hands, Seattle brat punks Mommy Longlegs, new wave/punk foursome Boyfriends (also from Seattle), Italian indie rockers Brothers In Law, and Salt Lake City's own garage-rock badasses The Nods. (RH) Diabolical Records, 238 S. Edison St., 7 p.m., $10, Facebook.com/DiabolicalRecords

LEX
Get on YouTube and find Lex's NPR Tiny Desk Concert contest submission. There, you see only the members of this Los Angeles-based, all-female synth-pop foursome in their shiny costumes performing live in front of bookshelves. Now stay and watch the artsy-fartsy-cool official video for the dreamy, pulsing "Mystery Boy" (same song as the NPR clip). Now, hit the site. Scroll down immediately and stream their EP. Finally, catch the band, discovered by Daft Punk engineer Peter Franco, tonight—performing with a sweet, light show that makes their music a terrifically sleepy trip. Brothers In Law and Crescendo open. (RH) Club X, 445 S. 400 West, 8 p.m., $10, ClubXSLC.com

WEDNESDAY 3.23
Geographer, The Crookes
Mike Deni, the nucleus of San Francisco's Geographer, once described his music as "soulful music from outer space." For many music fans, that's 'nuff said. We love soul, and we love space—the two together amount to relaxation and daydreams, and that's exactly what Geographer sounds like. His third album, Ghost Modern (Roll Call) came out last year, along with the Endless Motion EP. British alt-rock quartet The Crookes, out of Sheffield, are touring behind their two-month-old fourth album, Lucky Ones (Anywhere/Modern Outsider). Their breezy, spacey songs are a good complement to Geographer—not to mention a pleasant spring evening. (Randy Harward) The Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 East, 8 p.m., $12 in advance, $14 day of show, TheUrbanLoungeSLC.com